As a Mariners fan, I fucking loathe ARod. From the moment of his pending free agency and his quote "I want to go somewhere that I can win" and then signing with a last place team that threw so much money at him that it all but assured they'd continue to be a bottom feeder as long as they were yoked to his ridiculous contract. Fuck him. But I'm also curious how MLB is going to justify suspending him for 211 games. Ryan Braun got 65 games, everyone else 50 games. ARod has never failed a drug test, but he has admitted to using in the past. Under the current rules a second failed drug test is a 100 game suspension, how exactly does MLB justify a 200+ game suspension? There's also a possibility of collusion between the Yanks and MLB. If ARod is suspended for that many games the Yanks may be able to void the remainder of the $95M they owe him. Personally, I think that would be just desserts for the fucker just for being a douchebag in general. My guess is that once it goes to an arbitrator, he eats a 100 game suspension. As much as I dislike him, the game can't arbitrarily give him 4X the punishment of his peers just because.
From what I read it had more to do with his evidence destroying/selling, or his attempt to intimidate witnesses, or maybe even an asshole tax. Also he has tested postive I don't give a shit if it was before the "ban" or not. Fuck him.
One of the quotes I read from the commissioners office was that he was going to be punished more severely for vexing and irritating the investigation. I wish I could find the actual quote, but I don't remember the actual verbiage. Basically the jist was that he just really pissed off Selig. I hate Arod as much as anyone, but 4X the penalty as everyone else? That's not going to fly with the players union. Especially when it lowers the Yankees salary and cuts their revenue sharing to 0. There's more then meets the eye here. He's 13 HR's behind Mays. He's 98 hits from 3000. The stupid fucker would probably be approaching those same numbers without sticking a needle in his ass. Collusion? Quite probably. Bonds was dirty as hell and still hitting when his contract expired. No one wanted his surly ass and he faded into oblivion. Canseco was a handful of HR's shy of the magic number of 500 and no one would touch him. Arod will suffer the same fate. That's his legacy. He'll sit on his big fat wallet and laugh until he topples over dead.
Here's the thing.... Bonds still has the homerun record. That's not right. I don't want him to go to the grave thinking that. He cheated his way to that record, I don't give a fuck what anybody says. He lied and whined and cheated, cheated, cheated. And as nice as it would be for him to pull a Ken Caminiti and straight-up fucking die, I want him to at least know he's a disgrace first and his records are nil. Fuck all juicers in the sport. Thanks for the permanent black eye.
All of you sitting here bitching and moaning about steroids need to quite frankly shut the fuck up and get your heads out of this magical rainbow world that is your ass. The only reason A-Rod is getting slammed is because he's a doucher. The only reason Braun is getting excoriated is because of all his outrage over the testing being incorrect and his self-righteousness (ala Rafael Palmeiro). If you don't think that just about every player is going out of their way to give themselves an edge at the elite level than I hope you strap your helmet on tight when you somehow venture outside.
Hits, absolutely, but I don't know if he would have been drilling bombs like he did. Look at his numbers before and after going to the Rangers. Thats when he started to get BIG. He underwent the same transformation as Bonds. But your overall point is correct, he was one of the most highly touted young talents of his generation, and backed it up for years before he likely started juicing. Not to mention, he went from likeable and engaging (he was one of my favorite players) to an obnoxious, detestable asshat.
I know right? Totally reminds me of how jacked on HGH and metas Hank Aaron and Roger Maris were, it a time with larger baseballs, deeper fences, less-dependable equipment and limited sports sciences. But the pitchers still threw over 90 mph, that is also a fact. Maris smoked five to six packs of cigarettes a day and his hair was falling out from the press saturation and death threats he was receiving the year he hit 61. He was six feet tall and weighed 190 lbs. Don't tell me you can't get by in the game without drugs. This is a trend. A trend started by Caminiti, Brady Andereson and all those other lying assholes who tainted the game.
You say six feet tall and 190 pounds like that's different from many players today. For example, Ryan Braun is six foot two, and 205 pounds. Also, smoking has dick-all to do with hitting home runs.
I don't give a fuck if people want to use steroids for a competitive edge, if it's allowed. Hey, chicks dig the long ball, there's no denying that. The game definitely benefits from things like Sosa - MacGuire. But they fucking cheated. Cheating cheaters should not be allowed in the Hall of Fame, where the greatest rule-following players are enshrined for their untainted (so far as we know) accomplishments.
McGwire used Andro, which at the time was not a banned substance. Also, Willie Mays was implicated to be using speed. Mantle also. Although illegal substances, they were legal within the constraints of baseball at the time. Gaylord Perry willingly acknowledged that he doctored the ball, though umpires could never figure out how. He's sitting in the Hall of Fame. How is the current crop of cheaters any worse then Mays, Mantle, or Perry? Hell, fucking Ty Cobb sharpened his spikes and raked his feet down the legs of opposing players. Was that cheating or just gamesmanship?
Gaylord Perry (spitball), Hank Greenberg (stealing signs), and Mike Schmidt/Hank Aaron/Willie Stargell/Goose Gossage (greenies) are all in the Hall though. Mays is known to have been involved in BOTH sign stealing and amphetamines. John McGraw is known to have regularly tripped, blocked, and literally held baserunners because baseball only had one umpire per game at the time and he had to watch the pitch. There are allegations that Mantle used both steroids and amphetamines in 1961. I guarantee someone in there used a corked bat at some point too. The Hall of Fame is full of cheaters. Merely saying they're "cheaters" is a pretty unconvincing historical argument. Why is THIS cheating different? Is it just that we were able to look the other way when those players were voted in, while now we can't pretend we don't know? Or did we just fuck up, and all those guys should be thrown out?
But waaaaaahhh, integrity of the game, waaaahhhhh, what about the children, waaaahhhhh, I want to know deep down that if it wasn't for that middle school hang nail injury I could've gone pro. Let me repeat, get the fuck out of here with this shit. There's only one metric that matters, and that's winning. Now let's not get it twisted, if the players are stupid enough to get caught breaking the rules then by all means punish them, but this high horse schadenfreude bullshit needs to go away.
Also, preemptively: greenies were made illegal in 1971, which predates usage by all those players except Aaron and Mantle. So the "but steroids are explicitly against the rules" argument doesn't work.
Additionally, this is all assuming there isn't a player in the Hall of Fame right now who used steroids(something I find VERY unlikely). Players were having "Jose Canseco milkshakes" since 1988 at least. Although it is kind of funny to watch scumbag beat writers get on their soapbox as if they're the judge and jury of all things pure and righteous in baseball, just because this form of cheating isn't acceptable to them. When every other form of cheating(greenies, doctored balls, corked bats, sharpened spikes) just shows "the will to win" or some other horseshit...the cognitive dissonance is hilarious.
The Rangers are toying with my heart. NO WAY they make it past division - just no way...but damn if there isn't a glimmer of hope.
The A's are one game behind the Rangers with three games against them starting tomorrow. It is going to be a fun September. By fun, I mean my having to watch every game and having my emotions pulled with every run scored or given up.
Fuck you assholes. The only thing I have to root for is Felix winning a Cy Young while playing for a team that may well lose 90 games this year. At least the Seahawks start next week.
I can't. I can't with this Rangers team. Leaving RISP at every turn and making stupid plays. Flashes of brilliance - no doubt. But overall, they give me anxiety.